NU posts crucial split with SVSU

Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, April 14, 2009

UNIVERSITY CENTER - Northwood has quietly become one of the most dangerous softball teams in the GLIAC by persevering and refusing to quit.

It seemed only fitting, then, that Alicia Brandenburg be the pitcher to carry the Timberwolves to another upset victory Tuesday.

Brandenburg entered the day with only two wins despite being NU's workhorse and turning in several solid performances. Against a potent Saginaw Valley State offense - arguably the GLIAC's best - she picked up her third victory in heroic fashion.

Brandenburg pitched out of one jam after another in a complete-game four-hitter, as the Timberwolves beat the host Cardinals 4-1 in the first game of a league doubleheader.

SVSU bounced back to win game two 5-4 but still dropped into second place in the GLIAC at 28-8 overall and 15-3 in the league. Ferris State leads the conference with a 12-2 GLIAC mark.

Northwood, meanwhile, is 13-19 overall, 7-11 GLIAC, and has climbed into sixth place after being in the league basement a couple of weeks ago. The Timberwolves have split with three of the top teams in the GLIAC recently - Grand Valley, Ferris, and now Saginaw Valley.

"Alicia's been there for us the whole season," said NU coach Meaggan Pettipiece. " … She deserves it. She deserves that win, for sure."

Brandenburg, a junior from Sabillasville, Md., grew up in the same area as Los Angeles Angels' pitcher Nick Adenhart, who died in an automobile accident early Thursday morning.

Brandenburg recalled meeting Adenhart during high school, and her voice quivered slightly as she talked about him.

"It feels good (to beat SVSU); I'm not going to lie," she said. "It's an important win for me, too, because I went to school in the same conference as Nick Adenhart. I talked to him a few times, and it was just kind of nice to (win this one for him)."

The Timberwolves committed five errors in game one, but Brandenburg held the Cardinals scoreless in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings - twice with runners at second and third and one out, and the other inning with bases loaded.

"She did a real good job keeping us off-balance," said SVSU coach Everett Roper. "She throws really hard, and she has that little outside drop-ball that people just lose their timing on. She did a great job of holding us off."

The Timberwolves fared much better against Cardinals' ace Jade Fulton, who shut out NU on three hits three weeks ago.

Fulton ranks in the top four in the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average, but that didn't seem to bother NU on Tuesday. The Timberwolves scored in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead, then tacked on three more in the sixth on an RBI double by Ashley Slusser and a towering two-run homer by Tiffany Melgoza to take a commanding 4-0 lead.

"We keep telling (the players), 'You can't just sit back on one (run). You've got to keep battling.' And that's what they've done," Pettipiece said of her team's sixth-inning outburst. "This is like the third time we've seen (Fulton), so it's time to come and swing the bats, and we did that."

"Jade is an up-ball pitcher. Once you've seen her a few times, she's going to give up some home runs," Roper noted. "I don't think she was as sharp as she can be today."

Angie Kaiser got the Cardinals on the board with a solo homer in the top of the seventh, but Brandenburg struck out the side to end the game.

Brandenburg allowed only one walk and fanned eight.

Fulton (13-4) took the complete-game loss, allowing five hits and striking out six.

Slusser was 2-for-3 for NU, while Melgoza had three runs batted in.

For SVSU, Ashley Jordan doubled and walked.

In the nightcap, the Timberwolves scored twice in the third and twice in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead, but the Cardinals finally got to Brandenburg in the bottom of the fifth.

SVSU scored five times on five hits - including a two-run single by Jillian Peterson, an RBI double by Kaiser, and an RBI single by Nicole Fick - to take a 5-4 lead.

Northwood had a chance to tie it in the top of the seventh, as Michelle Boscola led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Slusser. Fulton, who was on in relief of starter Kari Bowlby, then struck out Alyssa Eppler and got Melgoza to ground out to end the game.

Bowlby (7-1) got the win, going five innings and allowing four runs on seven hits.

Brandenburg (3-9) took the loss.

Ashley Belling was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for NU, while Slusser had two hits and scored twice.

NU heads to Findlay on Saturday, then to Hillsdale on Sunday, while Saginaw Valley hosts Grand Valley on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.